Cable Channel Subscribers Grew For the First Time In 8 Years Last Quarter (arstechnica.com)
(Wednesday December 10, 2025 @05:50PM (BeauHD)
from the would-you-look-at-that dept.)
- Reference: 0180357325
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/12/10/2111244/cable-channel-subscribers-grew-for-the-first-time-in-8-years-last-quarter
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/cable-channel-subscribers-grew-for-the-first-time-in-years-last-quarter/
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica:
> On Monday, research analyst MoffettNathanson released its "Cord-Cutting Monitor Q3 2025: Signs of Life?" [1]report . It found that the pay TV operators, including cable companies, satellite companies, and virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) like YouTube TV and Fubo, [2]added 303,000 net subscribers in Q3 2025 . According to the report, "There are more linear video subscribers now than there were three months ago. That's the first time we've been able to say that since 2017."
>
> In Q3 2017, MoffettNathanson reported that pay TV gained 318,000 net new subscribers. But since then, the industry's subscriber count has been declining, with 1,045,000 customers in Q2 2025, as depicted in the graph
>
> Traditional pay TV companies also contributed to the industry's unexpected growth by bundling its services with streaming subscriptions. Charter Communications offers bundles with nine streaming services, including Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max. In Q3 2024, it saw net attrition of 294,000 customers, compared to about 70,000 in Q3 2025. Other cable companies have made similar moves. Comcast, for example, launched a streaming bundle with Netflix, Peacock, and Apple TV in May 2024. For Q3 2025, Comcast reported its best pay TV subscriber count in almost five years, which was a net loss of 257,000 customers.
"Traditional pay TV -- i.e. cable and satellite -- still declined quarter over quarter in Q3, but again, by less," noted [4]SteamTV Insider . "The [year-over-year] rate of attrition dropped from -12.4 percent to -10.2 percent over 12 months."
MoffettNathanson added: "Yes, Q3 saw a positive net add number for [pay TV for] the first time in eight years, but that positive result came in the year's seasonally strongest quarter. We're not yet close to seeing the category actually grow again..."
[1] https://www.moffettnathanson.com/media-research
[2] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/cable-channel-subscribers-grew-for-the-first-time-in-years-last-quarter/
[3] https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Pay_20TV_20Q3_202025_20MoffettNathanson.jpg
[4] https://www.streamtvinsider.com/content/q3-pay-tv-subsribers-grew-first-time-2017
> On Monday, research analyst MoffettNathanson released its "Cord-Cutting Monitor Q3 2025: Signs of Life?" [1]report . It found that the pay TV operators, including cable companies, satellite companies, and virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) like YouTube TV and Fubo, [2]added 303,000 net subscribers in Q3 2025 . According to the report, "There are more linear video subscribers now than there were three months ago. That's the first time we've been able to say that since 2017."
>
> In Q3 2017, MoffettNathanson reported that pay TV gained 318,000 net new subscribers. But since then, the industry's subscriber count has been declining, with 1,045,000 customers in Q2 2025, as depicted in the graph
[3]here
. The world's largest vMVPD by subscriber count, YouTube TV, claimed 8 million subscribers in February 2024; some analysts estimate that number is now at 9.4 million. In its report, MoffettNathanson estimated that YouTube TV added 750,000 subscribers in Q3 2025, compared to 1 million in Q3 2024.>
> Traditional pay TV companies also contributed to the industry's unexpected growth by bundling its services with streaming subscriptions. Charter Communications offers bundles with nine streaming services, including Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max. In Q3 2024, it saw net attrition of 294,000 customers, compared to about 70,000 in Q3 2025. Other cable companies have made similar moves. Comcast, for example, launched a streaming bundle with Netflix, Peacock, and Apple TV in May 2024. For Q3 2025, Comcast reported its best pay TV subscriber count in almost five years, which was a net loss of 257,000 customers.
"Traditional pay TV -- i.e. cable and satellite -- still declined quarter over quarter in Q3, but again, by less," noted [4]SteamTV Insider . "The [year-over-year] rate of attrition dropped from -12.4 percent to -10.2 percent over 12 months."
MoffettNathanson added: "Yes, Q3 saw a positive net add number for [pay TV for] the first time in eight years, but that positive result came in the year's seasonally strongest quarter. We're not yet close to seeing the category actually grow again..."
[1] https://www.moffettnathanson.com/media-research
[2] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/cable-channel-subscribers-grew-for-the-first-time-in-years-last-quarter/
[3] https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Pay_20TV_20Q3_202025_20MoffettNathanson.jpg
[4] https://www.streamtvinsider.com/content/q3-pay-tv-subsribers-grew-first-time-2017
It is football season (Score:3)
by jrnvk ( 4197967 )
And that is the only reason they gained. Things will be back to reality in Q1.
Horsewhip sales are up (Score:1)
by sinij ( 911942 )
There is no way anyone but a non-techie boomer would get a cable when you can stream or pirate.
Package deals? (Score:2)
Some ISP's will bundle cable along with internet at a lower starting price.
Re: (Score:3)
Yes, that's the key phrase there, "bundling its services with streaming subscriptions"
Cable ISPs for years have been rationalizing subsidizing their shrinking cable business model by hiking internet prices and offering cable in a cheaper bundled services
I don't know how the hell it became normal for decent broadband to be over $80 a month without any promotions added on, but here we are
Re: (Score:2)
Outside of sports and news, there's little reason to watch linear programming anymore. Personally, I like that my cable provider bundles most of the streamers that I like to access as it actually lowers the cost vs. individual subscriptions.
You also get to ditch the cable box for a bring-your-own-Roku and have some DVR functionality (rewind and somtimes fast-forward...nice for watching live football) built into the cable "app".
I think that there's a growing market for providers that can bundle streamers in
Re: (Score:2)
For several years, I had Comcast cable TV because it was $10 less per month to have Internet + TV than just Internet (and Comcast waived the cap if you had both, but enforced the cap if you had Internet only.)
This was several years ago. Now there are other providers that service my home, and it is cheaper to just have internet. (a LOT cheaper)
Re: (Score:2)
We might have cable tv, if that was the cheapest way to get internet in our house. I literally do not know, only one device is plugged into a coax cable in our entire house and that's the modem. I wouldn't even know where to look on my tv to see if they still come with coax connectors on the back, it hangs on the wall and there's a power plug, that's it.